Hearings held for 61 defendants charged in Atlanta Public Safety Training Center protests

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A series of motions hearings were held Monday in what could be the largest criminal racketeering case in American history, right here in Atlanta.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kevin Farmer is overseeing the trial of 61 defendants charged in connection with protests over the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.

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Farmer has already described the case as a “61-person elephant” in a status hearing earlier this year. Farmer told attorneys there will be 12 trials in this case, with five defendants each to get to all defendants.

The prosecution said the first trial will take four to five weeks, while the others will be shorter.

More than a year and a half ago, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr - now a Republican candidate for governor - filed charges against 61 people arrested during protests over the facility, which critics derisively call “Cop City.”

But 20 months after being indicted under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law, the cases have hit numerous delays, and the defendants said they have been left in limbo, facing serious charges for what they maintain was a legitimate protest, not domestic terrorism.

The facility, begun during one-term former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ administration, became a flashpoint for controversy and violence. Bottoms is also a Democratic hopeful in Georgia’s nationally watched governor’s race.

Supporters said the project is needed to replace outdated facilities and boost officers’ morale. Opponents said it will be a training ground for a militarized police force, and its construction has worsened environmental damage in a poor, majority-Black area.

Protests escalated after the fatal 2023 shooting of Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, known as Tortuguita, who was camping near the site when authorities launched a clearing operation. Officials said they killed Tortuguita, 26, after the activist shot and wounded a trooper from inside a tent.

A family-commissioned autopsy concluded Tortuguita was killed with their hands in the air, but a prosecutor found the officers’ use of force was " objectively reasonable."

As alleged in the indictments, the defendants are members of Defend the Atlanta Forest, which Carr has described as an anarchist, anti-police, and anti-business extremist organization.

Of the 61 defendants who have been indicted, 13 are from Georgia. Read the full indictments here.

Here is a full list of those indicted:

• Jack Morgan Beamon, 22, Athena, Georgia
• Max Jacob Biedeman, 25, Tempe, Arizona
• Timothy E. Bilodeau, 26, Boston
• Emma Katherine Bogush, 25, Bethany, Connecticut
• Andrew Carlisle, 32, Decatur, Georgia
• Francis Carroll, 23, Kennbunkport, Maine
• Amin Jalal Chaoui, 29, Richmond, Virginia
• Brooke Elaine Courtemanche, 27, Wooster, Ohio
• Coliin Patrick Dorsey, 42, Blue Hill, Massachusetts
• Julia Caroline Dupuis, 24, Atlanta
• Ariel Caitlin Ebaugh, 22, Locust Grove, Georgia
• Lillian Pearl Ellis, 30
• Madeleine Feola, 22, Oberlin, Ohio
• Ivan James Ferguson, 23, Henderson, Nevada
• Phillip Allen Flagg, 29, Worchester, Massachusetts
• Maggie June Gates, 25, Bloomington, Indiana
• Nadja Geier, 24, Nashville, Tennessee
• Priscilla Christine Grim, 49
• Sonali Gupta, 32
• Luke Edward Harper, 27, Lake Worth, Florida
• Serena Abby Hertel, 26, Los Angeles
• Marianna Elizabeth Hoitt-Lange, 25, New York
• Thomas Webb Jergens, 28, Atlanta
• Hannah Margaret Kass, 30, Philadelphia
• Marlon Scott Kautz, 39, Atlanta
• Ayla Elegia King, 19, Worchester, Massachusetts
• Katie Marie Kloth, 36, Schofield, Pennsylvania
• Madeleine Gunther Kodat, 30, Philadelphia,
• Zoe C. Larmey, 26, Nashville, Tennessee
• Ana Gypsy Lee, 39, Gainesville, Georgia
• Dimitri Roger LeNy, 25, of France
• Spencer Bernard Liberto, 30, Pittsburgh
• Mattia Luini, 31, New York, New York
• Matthew Ernest Macar, 31, Pittsburgh
• Adele Garrett MacLean, 32, Atlanta
• James Lee Marsicano, 30, Charlette, North Carolina
• Grace Taylor Martin, 23, Madison, Wisconsin
• Kayley Cheryl Meissner, 20, Madison, Wisconsin
• Emily Murphy, 37, Berkley, Michigan
• Timothy A.R. Murphy, 26, Rockport, Maine
• Tyler John Norman, 39, Blue Mountain, Wisconsin
• Leif Kingfisher Nicholas Novak, 31, Tucson, Arizona
• Ehret William Nottingham, 22, Fort Collins, Colorado
• Nicholas Dean Olson, 26, Bennington, Nebraska
• Alexis Achilles Papali, 49, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
• Geoffrey Parsons, 21, Baltimore
• Savannah D. Patterson, 30, Atlanta
• Kamryn Durel Pipes, 27, Baton Rouge, Lousiana
• Victor Enrique Puertas, 46, Provo, Utah
• Christopher Reynolds, 32, Ohio
• Fredrique Robert-Paul, 35, St. Pascal, Canada
• Arieon T. Robinson, 22, Milwaukee
• Teresa Yue Shen, 32, New York City
• Abigail Elizabeth Skapyak, 24, Savage, Minnesota
• Caroline Hart Tennenbaum, 36, Atlanta
• Geneva Rose Tilbury, 25, Kansas City, Missouri
• Abeeku Osei Vassail, 23, Atlanta
• Leonard Zen AKA Leonardo Zen Voiselle, 21of Macon, Georgia
• Samuel Clemens Ward, 26, Mesa, Arizona
• William Budden Warren, 31, Decatur, Georgia
• Sarah Wasalewski, 35, Pennsylvania

The indictment lists 225 incidents in which the defendants are alleged to have worked together to stop the facility’s construction, including:

• On July 5, 2020, members of the group attacked the Georgia Department of Public Safety headquarters by throwing rocks and hurling a Molotov cocktail through the window, resulting in the injury of two employees and the building catching fire;
• On May 17, 2022, defendants threw Molotov cocktails and glass bottles at police officers;
• On Dec. 13, 2022, defendants threw fireworks at firefighters and EMTs, damaged an Atlanta police vehicle, and cut the safety rope of an arborist working in one of the trees on the site;
• On multiple occasions, members of the group torched and caused other damage to buildings and construction equipment, including excavators and bulldozers, owned by contractors associated with the project and then claimed responsibility for the destruction;
• Members of the group used the Scenes Blog to call for a “Night of Rage” to occur on Jan. 21, 2023, during which defendants committed arson and property damage and attempted to break into 191 Peachtree, where the Atlanta Police Foundation’s office is located;
• On March 5, 2023, a member of the group punched a police officer and an organized mob attacked other law enforcement who were guarding the site and the crowd proceeded to set construction vehicles on fire; and
• On July 3, 2022, at least one member of the group vandalized historic Ebenezer Baptist Church.

MORE COVERAGE: ATLANTA PUBLIC SAFETY TRAINING CENTER

• Judge rules non-Atlanta residents can collect signatures for ‘Cop City’ petition
• ‘Stop Cop City’ Sen. Warnock interrupted during commencement address
• Judge rules in favor of ‘Cop City’ opponents; protestors clash with Fulton law enforcement
• More than 35K signatures collected to get ‘Cop City’ on Atlanta ballot

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